Bottomless In-Ground Garden-Plant Watering-Well with Removable Twist-Ring

ABSTRACT

An in-ground plant container with watering-well that is open at both ends and is functional and decorative. The above-ground portion of this present embodiment has a circular watering-well bowl that is surrounded by a removal-able twist-ring rim that is both functional and decorative. The twist-ring along with several aspects of this embodiment work together to keep the plant container&#39;s watering-well bowl above ground-level. 
     The bottom, below-ground portion, has vertical fins to prevent lateral rotation of plant container from repeated twist-ring removal and re-attachment; and two attached horizontal flanges also help to prevent upward and downward movement. 
     The non-organic watering-well bowl replaces the organic soil-watering-well. This in-ground plant container with watering-well is for conserving water, and the containment of water contaminated by pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

Continuation-in-part; Application #: 23614068; Filed Sep. 26, 2015, forBOTTOMLESS IN-GROUND WATER CONSERVATION AND CONTAMINATION PREVENTIONGARDEN-PLANT WATERING-WELL; by Donald E. Harris, Sr.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This present embodiment relates to bottomless garden plant containersand, more particularly, to a bottomless garden plant container thatconserves water and prevents unwanted water waste, including theprevention of pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer contamination due touncontrolled water runoff.

BACKGROUND

Plant and flower gardening has been around since the beginning ofcivilization and with it comes the continuous need for fertilizer, weedand pest prevention, and water—lots and lots of water. Water has alwaysbeen a precious, and, an invaluable resource, and in today's world it iseven more so, and the need for conserving it is at an all-time high.

Nearly every home—in nearly every place—has an area where they will tendto have plants and flowers growing, or someone attempting to do so.According to the article, Blades of glory: America's love affair withlawns in the Jun. 24, 2011 edition of the magazine, The Week, about 80percent of American homes have yards—and based on the 2011 AmericanHousing Survey of the United States, there are approximately 100 millionhouses in America. This means there are approximately 80 millionAmerican yards, or variants of yards, that can be landscaped—andlandscapes need watering.

The scope of this embodiment does not deal with watering lawns—its focusis primarily with the many flowering annuals, perennials, bulbs, smallto larger shrubs, and all the varying things gardeners like to plant inthe soil of all these yards aside from lawn. This equates to lots ofwatering, fertilizing, herbicides, and the applying of pesticides; andherein lies the problem: lots of water, contaminated with fertilizers,herbicides, and pesticides can end up flowing away from the target plantand/or flowers towards areas for which they were not intended.

Every day there is someone somewhere watering a plant in their garden;and along with them are the gardening enthusiasts, who out of love fortheir little botanical friends, are diligently applying fertilizers,pesticides, and herbicides. One outcome that these well-meaning groupscan have in common is this: more-often-than-not they watch helplessly asmuch of the needed water, and gardening additives, flow to surroundingareas and away from the plant for which they were intended; and intoday's world water has become a commodity, and its conservation is aresponsibility each person should participate in.

There have been attempts at correcting this seemingly universal problemfor gardeners for many years and the most common solution was to buildup a bowl shaped mound of soil around the base of the plant (commonlyreferred to as a soil watering-well) to contain the water long enoughfor it to percolate down to the plant's roots. A few of the othersolutions are the use of mulches piled around the plant in the hopes ofretaining moisture; or stones sunk into the soil around the plant as aborder, or to simply place the plant several inches below ground level.

Unfortunately the aforementioned so-called solutions, along with manyothers, generally fail soon after their implementation. The soilwatering-wells tend to absorb water laterally as well as gravitationallyand by the very act of watering are eroded away and as the soil surfacegets drier water has less time to saturate before it becomes wastefulrunoff and oftentimes, taking with it, gardening chemicals such asfertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

Mulch mounds are not much better at solving the issue—in fact they canexacerbate the problem of garden chemical products like pesticides andherbicide runoff. Mulches are breeding grounds for pests like earwigsand pill-bugs to name a few, which encourages greater use of pesticideswhich then accumulates in the mulches; and mulches tend to float andflow with water runoff from over watering and large downpours of rainThese so-called solution failures are typical of the other solutions aswell as those not mentioned. The worst consequence of these runoffs arethe gardening chemicals used to help grow, and protect our gardenplants, oftentimes end up flowing into street gutters, streams, pondsand other environmentally sensitive areas. Although there are variousmethods of trying to prevent water and chemical runoff, all, or almostall suffer from one, or more than one disadvantage.

Therefore, there is a need to provide methods and apparatus forimproved, and more secure methods, for the prevention of wasteful waterrunoff and the containment of useful gardening products to prevent themfrom becoming a detriment, and danger, to their surroundingenvironments. As long as there are plants and water, there will begardening—and gardening is here stay—and it can be done more effectivelyand environmentally friendly.

PRIOR ART

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appearsrelevant:

I am aware of U.S. Pat. No. US 2009/0025290 A1, Jan. 29, 2009,Bottomless Plant Container which was issued to Ball HorticulturalCompany for growing plants in an open-bottom plant container.

I am, also aware of prior art U.S. Pat. No.: US 2002/0005011 A1 issuedto Lauri and David Goldberg Jan. 17, 2002 Bottomless CompartmentalizedIn-Ground Garden Container.

SHORTCOMINGS OF OTHER SOLUTIONS

U.S. Pat. No. U.S. 2009/0025290 A1 Open-bottom plant container is atemporary biodegradable container for transporting rooted plants forplacing in their final growing site.

These products are designed as only temporary containers; whereas thispresent embodiment of the Bottomless In-Ground Garden-PlantWatering-Well with Removable Twist-Ring is for permanent use.

Also, it is neither taught, nor suggested that U.S. Pat. No. US2009/0025290 A1 Bottomless Plant Container is so designed as to conservewater and/or prevent the runoff of gardening chemicals or products.

U.S. Pat. No.: US 2002/0005011 A1: What is disclosed is a gardencontainer that includes a rigid outer wall defining a perimeter andhaving opposite upper and lower edges around the perimeter. Its outerand inner circular walls and intersecting walls are so designed to sliceinto the soil. It is neither taught, nor suggested that this bottomlesscontainer is so designed as to conserve water and/or prevent the runoffof gardening chemicals or products. It is also stated, that: “. . .substantially the container may be manually placed or depressed into thesoil until the rim of the container is generally flush with the soilsurface.” (Excerpt from Summary of the Invention; first paragraph,lines: 11-13).

Unfortunately being flush with the soil allows for wasteful waterrunoff, chemical contamination of surrounding areas and the dispersionof other gardening products. This prior art bottomless garden containerhas no apparatus to prevent vertical movement either upwards ordownwards, which could result in all, or portions, of this prior artcontainer sinking below ground level; and it is neither taught, norsuggested that this device was designed to prevent that from happening.

ADVANTAGES OF PRESENT EMBODIMENT

Thus several advantages of one or more aspects would be to provide abottomless in-ground plant container that conserves water via the use ofa non-eroding watering-well.

Other advantages of one or more aspects are to provide a bottomlessin-ground plant container watering-well with a removal twist-ring thatcan be both decorative and functional.

It would further be advantageous to provide a bottomless in-ground plantcontainer watering-well that helps protects its surrounding environmentsfrom harmful herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer runoff.

It would also be advantageous to have a bottomless in-ground plantcontainer watering-well that protects plants and flowers from grasstrimmers above ground and help prevent unwanted weeds and grass rhizomesbelow ground.

It would also be advantageous to have a bottomless in-ground plantcontainer that can keep bulbs and rhizomes in one location and separatefrom others to help prevent unwanted color change.

It would further be advantages to have a bottomless in-ground plantcontainer watering-well that encourages earthworm growth and populationfor plant and soil health.

It would also be advantages to have a bottomless in-ground plantcontainer watering-well that directs water flow downwards to the plantsroots instead of flowing away from the roots and across the soil'ssurface.

These and other advantages of one or more aspects will become apparentfrom a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanyingdrawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present embodiment of the Bottomless In-GroundGarden-Plant Watering-Well with Removable Twist-Ring, there is providedan in-ground plant container that is open at both ends and is bothfunctional and decorative. This embodiment consists of two separateparts: the plant container and the removable twist-ring. The plantcontainer has both an above ground-level portion and a belowground-level portion. The above ground-level portion is thewatering-well and in this present embodiment its lip height is 3″, andthe below ground-level portion is the well barrel and in this presentembodiment it is 6″. On the lip of the watering-well is a flange withthree evenly spaced voids which allow for three evenly spaced flangeswithin the twist-ring to match up and then to securely twist-attach thetwist-ring to the watering-well portion of the plant container.

Attached to the outside of the well barrel are two flanges. The firstone is at ground level, and this one is the twist-ring floor, and it hasthree purposes: 1) a floor for the twist-ring to rest on so as to keeppests and vegetation from getting up into its undercarriage; 2) as aprimary support for keeping the watering-well above ground-level; 3) andas a built-in guide for correct height placement in the ground. Thesecond flange is attached at the base and this flange is to prevent theplant container from upward vertical movement and is a secondary supportfor keeping the watering-well above ground-level. Also attached to theoutside of the well barrel and to the bottom flange are four evenlyspaced vertical fins for overall strength and support, and theprevention of lateral circular movement, especially from the repeatedremoving and replacing of the twist-ring.

The twist-ring's inner circumference aligns with the inner circumferenceof the plant container, and the twist-ring's outer circumference widthaligns with the circumference of the twist-ring's floor. This ring isdesigned for ease of removal and replacement by either twisting left orright; aligning marks are visually placed on the inside walls on boththe twist-ring and the watering-well for ease of ring centering;however, exact centering with the marks is not necessary for a secureattachment. The twist-ring is both functional and decorative; and is thethird support for preventing the watering-well from sinking to, orbelow, ground-level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A complete understanding of the present embodiment may be obtained byreference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunctionwith the subsequent, detailed description, in which:

FIG. 1A to 1B shows various aspects an embodiment of a twist-ringwatering-well showing the twist-ring detached from the watering-wellplant container.

FIG. 2 is a detail view of a twist-ring with its twist-attach flangealigned with the lip-attach flange of the watering-well bowl in thedetach position.

FIG. 3 is a detail view of a twist-ring with its twist-attach flangealigned with the lip-attach flange of the watering-well bowl in theattached position.

FIG. 4A to 4B shows various aspects of a twist-ring watering-well withthe twist-ring detached from the watering-well bowl and a watering-wellwith the twist-ring attached to the watering-well bowl.

FIG. 5A to 5B shows bottom perspectives of the twist-ring watering-wellwith the twist-ring detached from the watering-well bowl.

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing conceptual drawings highlighting someof the possible useful, and decorative ways, twist-ring watering-wellscould be modified, but not limited to: drip-system capable solar-litcolumns and plant stands, garden rosettes, bird baths, or lattices,without constituting a departure from the true spirit and scope of thispresent embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a solution diagram describing a function of the BottomlessIn-Ground Garden-Plant Watering-Well with Removable Twist-Ringdescribing some of the effects of water's potentials affecting soilwatering-wells and plant health in contrast to non-soil watering-wells.

For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components willbear the same designations and numbering throughout the Figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT

Before this first embodiment of a Bottomless In-Ground Garden-PlantWatering-Well with Removable Twist-Ring, along with its methods aredisclosed and described, it is to be understood that this firstembodiment is not limited to the particular configurations, sizes, ormaterials disclosed herein as such configurations, sizes, and materialsmay vary somewhat; nor are any concept illustrations or diagrams to beconstrued as limiting. It is also to be understood that the terminologyemployed is used for the purpose of describing this particularembodiment and is not intended to be limiting; however, for brevity'ssake throughout the description, the Bottomless In-Ground Garden-PlantWatering-Well with Removable Twist-Ring will be referenced by its twobasic parts: twist-ring and watering-well; and/or as: twist-ringwatering-well.

FIG. 1A is a top perspective view of a detached twist-ring in accordancewith the present embodiment. Twist-ring watering-wells may be fabricatedof plastics, clays, ceramics, metals or any other suitable materials.This present embodiment has for example, an environmentally friendlypolypropylene plastic, as its construction material; and is made up oftwo separate pieces, one is the twist-ring 120 and the other is theplant container (FIG. 1B), or watering-well. Both pieces are each builtof a single unified construction which will be apparent to those skilledin the art of plastic fabrication. In this embodiment the twist-ringouter wall 122 is circular, but in alternate embodiments it can beshaped as a rectangle, square, or any other geometrical shape or anyorganic shape or configuration deemed to be aesthetically pleasing oradvantageous.

A twist-ring watering-well will generally have its above ground portionthat makes up the watering-well bowl 132 of the watering-well to have anapproximate height of around 3 inches to insure suitable water volume,and to also act as a plant guard, with or without the twist-ring 120attached, for ease of trimmer use during routine lawn maintenance.

The twist-ring 120 in this embodiment has two walls, an outer and aninner; the twist-ring inner wall 124 is thicker for added strength as ithas three evenly spaced twist-attach flanges 126. The circumference ofthe top opening of the twist-ring 120 is smaller than its bottomcircumference so that it aligns up with, and rests on, the innercircumference of the lip-attach flange 130 of the watering well givingthe twist-ring 120 added support. The circumference of the twist-ringouter wall 122 aligns with, and rests on, the outer circumference of thetwist-ring floor 134; the twist-ring inner wall 124 of the twist-ring120 also rests on the twist-ring floor 134. The twist-ring 120 isattached or detached by aligning the three twist-attach flanges 126 withthe three matching slots in the lip-attach flange 130 of thewatering-well and twisting either to the left or to the right. Thetwist-ring 120 is one of several support mechanisms for keeping thewatering-well bowl 132 above ground-level.

The watering-well has both an above-ground portion and a below-groundportion. The above-ground portion is the watering-well bowl 132 andreplaces its organic counterpart, the soil watering-well. The lip-attachflange 130 is the top edge of the bowl. To keep the watering-well bowl132 at its 3 inch height above ground-level is another supportmechanism, the twist-ring floor 134; it is attached to the outsidecircumference of the watering-well bowl 132 where the bowl meets thesoil of the well barrel 136 and it rests on the surface of the ground.The twist-ring floor 134 also works as a guide for proper depthplacement of the watering-well. The below-ground portion is the wellbarrel 136 and in this embodiment it has a depth of 6 inches. Attachedto the outside of the well barrel 136 just below the twist-ring floor134 are four evenly spaced vertical stabilizer fins 138 to help in theprevention of lateral movement and loosening in the soil from repeatedtwist-ring 120 attachments and removals. Attached to the outercircumference of the well barrel 136 base and to the stabilizer fins 138is the horizontal stabilizer flange 140 to help prevent vertical upwardmovement and loosening of the watering-well from repeated twist-ring 120attachments and removals, and general soil movement; the horizontalstabilizer flange 140 is too, another mechanism for preventing thewatering-well bowl 132 from sinking to, or below, ground-level.

FIG. 2 is a detail view of the twist-ring 120 with its twist-attachflanges 126 aligned with the slots in the lip-attach flange 130 of thewatering-well bowl 132 in preparation for attachment or removal.

FIG. 3 is a detail view of a twist-ring 120 with its twist-attachflanges 126 centered under the lip-attach flange 130 of thewatering-well bowl 132 for a secure attachment.

FIG. 4B is a side perspective view of a twist-ring watering-well withtwist-ring 120 detached from the watering-well bowl 132, and one withthe twist-ring 120 attached FIG. 4B to the watering-well bowl 132.

FIG. 5A is a bottom perspective view of the watering-well with thetwist-ring 120 detached from the watering-well bowl 132; FIG. 5B is abottom perspective view of the twist-ring showing one of the threetwist-attach flanges 126.

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing conceptual drawings highlighting someof the possible useful, and decorative ways, twist-ring watering-wellscould be modified, but not limited to: drip-system capable solar-litcolumns and plant stands, garden rosettes, bird baths, or lattices,without constituting a departure from the true spirit and scope of thispresent embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a solution diagram describing a function of the BottomlessIn-Ground Garden-Plant Watering-Well with Removable Twist-Ringdescribing some of the effects of water's potentials affecting soilwatering-wells and plant health in contrast to non-soil watering-wells.

Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operatingrequirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, the invention is not considered limited to the examples chosen forpurposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications whichdo not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected byLetters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bottomless in-ground garden-plant watering-wellwith removable twist-ring for conserving water, and containment of watercontaminated by pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, comprising:means for aesthetics and strength; means for strength and ring support,permanently connected to said means for aesthetics and strength; meansfor twist-attach flange and additional ring support and strength,permanently connected to said means for aesthetics and strength; meansis for attaching the watering-well to the twist-ring; means for water,fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide containment in the above groundportion of a watering-well, permanently connected to said means is forattaching the watering-well to the twist-ring; means for support of thetwist-ring and for accurate in-ground depth placement, as well as forthe prevention of the watering-well sinking below ground level,permanently connected to said means for water, fertilizer, herbicide,and pesticide containment in the above ground portion of awatering-well; means for soil and plant placement, permanently connectedto said means for water, fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticidecontainment in the above ground portion of a watering-well; means forpreventing horizontal rotation of the watering-well during twist-ringplacement and removal, permanently connected to said means for soil andplant placement; and means for preventing vertical lifting of thewatering-well from soil movement and/or twist-ring removal andreplacement, permanently connected to said means for preventinghorizontal rotation of the watering-well during twist-ring placement andremoval, and permanently connected to said means for soil and plantplacement.
 2. The bottomless in-ground garden-plant watering-well withremovable twist-ring in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means foraesthetics and strength comprises a twist-ring.
 3. The bottomlessin-ground garden-plant watering-well with removable twist-ring inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said means for strength and ringsupport comprises a twist-ring outer wall.
 4. The bottomless in-groundgarden-plant watering-well with removable twist-ring in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said means for twist-attach flange and additional ringsupport and strength comprises a twist ring inner wall.
 5. Thebottomless in-ground garden-plant watering-well with removabletwist-ring in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means is forattaching the watering-well to the twist-ring comprises a lip-attachflange.
 6. The bottomless in-ground garden-plant watering-well withremovable twist-ring in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means forwater, fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide containment in the aboveground portion of a watering-well comprises a watering-well bowl.
 7. Thebottomless in-ground garden-plant watering-well with removabletwist-ring in accordance with claim 1, wherein said means for support ofthe twist-ring and for accurate in-ground depth placement, as well asfor the prevention of the watering-well sinking below ground levelcomprises a twist-ring floor.
 8. The bottomless in-ground garden-plantwatering-well with removable twist-ring in accordance with claim 1,wherein said means for soil and plant placement and the directionalcontrol of water flow comprises a well barrel.
 9. The bottomlessin-ground garden-plant watering-well with removable twist-ring inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said means for preventing horizontalrotation of the watering-well during twist-ring placement and removalcomprises a stabilizer fin.
 10. The bottomless in-ground garden-plantwatering-well with removable twist-ring in accordance with claim 1,wherein said means for preventing vertical lifting of the watering-wellfrom soil movement and/or twist-ring removal and replacement comprises ahorizontal stabilizer flange.
 11. A bottomless in-ground garden-plantwatering-well with removable twist-ring for conserving water, andcontainment of water contaminated by pesticides, herbicides, andfertilizers, comprising: a twist-ring, for aesthetics and strength; atwist-ring outer wall, for strength and ring support, permanentlyconnected to said twist-ring; a twist ring inner wall, for twist-attachflange and additional ring support and strength, permanently connectedto said twist-ring; a twist-attach flange, for attaching the twist-ringto the watering-well, permanently connected to said twist ring innerwall; a lip-attach flange, is for attaching the watering-well to thetwist-ring, correspondingly interconnected to said twist-attach flange;a watering-well bowl, for water, fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticidecontainment in the above ground portion of a watering-well, permanentlyconnected to said lip-attach flange; a twist-ring floor, for support ofthe twist-ring and for accurate in-ground depth placement, as well asfor the prevention of the watering-well sinking below ground level,permanently connected to said watering-well bowl; a well barrel, forsoil and plant placement, permanently connected to said watering-wellbowl; a stabilizer fin, for preventing horizontal rotation of thewatering-well during twist-ring placement and removal, permanentlyconnected to said well barrel; and a horizontal stabilizer flange, forpreventing vertical lifting of the watering-well from soil movementand/or twist-ring removal and replacement, permanently connected to saidstabilizer fin, and permanently connected to said well barrel.